The Sunday Age: covering sport in 2015

Andrew Tate and Stathi Paxinos

Legendary American football coach Vince Lombardi once famously said: "It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up." It was a theme that marked the 2016 sporting year. Surfer Mick Fanning survived a shark attack in South Africa and the death of his brother to almost win the world title. Golfer Jason Day kept his nerve after a run of near misses to break through at the US PGA. Michelle Payne shrugged off the doubters to stun the racing world and win the Melbourne Cup on long-shot Prince Of Penzance. And the Adelaide Football Club made the AFL finals despite enduring the death of coach Phil Walsh. It was a sporting year in which corruption at the heart of world soccer was finally exposed, although the game could still revel in the Socceroos' stunning success at the Asian Cup. In the AFL, Hawthorn would again dominate the latter part of the season, while the controversial coaching careers of Mick Malthouse and James Hird came to an end. In cricket, Australia won a World Cup and farewelled captain Michael Clarke. Compiling our favourite Sunday covers on a month-by-month basis obviously means some of the best sporting moments of 2016 are missing, but the best work of our team of reporters, editors, photographers and artists can be found every day in The Age and online at theage.com.au. Andrew Tate, Stathi Paxinos, Sunday Age sport editors

Serena Williams came, she saw and – again – she conquered. The world No.1 arrived in Melbourne determined to win her sixth crown at Melbourne Park, and after two weeks of blistering tennis she won the final 6-3, 7-6 over Maria Sharapova. The American would go on to add the French Open and Wimbledon titles to her 2015 tally, but she missed the grand slam through a lapse in the semi-finals of her home tournament at Flushing Meadows.

The rise of the Socceroos in the national psyche continued with the stunning last-gasp victory against South Korea in the Asian Cup final. By finally adding some silverware to the national trophy case, the team coached by Ange Postecoglou established Australia as a nation with serious intent on the world stage. The manner of the victory made the achievement even more memorable, with a South Korean stoppage-time equaliser sending the game into extra time. Ultimately, James Troisi was in the right place, at the right time, with the right finish, to make the fairytale come true.

MARCH

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Formula One chiefs could have stopped the racing after the Australian Grand Prix and saved themselves traipsing around the world for the rest of the year. The three men on the podium in Melbourne were the trio who finished in the same order in the title race – Lewis Hamilton besting his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel best of the rest. Australia's Daniel Ricciardo managed sixth in his sputtering, underpowered Red Bull.

The centenary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli was marked with solemnity around the nation, and at the MCG Collingwood and Essendon turned in a dour, scrappy match that lacked the usual blockbuster flair. In front of a lower-than-usual crowd of 88,395 the Magpies prevailed by 20 points, suggesting a team on the rise, as the Bombers again fought valiantly but lost. Paul Seedsman won the Anzac Day Medal.

The drums were beating for Mick Malthouse as Carlton's crisis deepened. The famously feisty veteran coach was being given no guarantees by a Carlton board that wanted to see on-field improvement and a long-term plan. For his part, Malthouse seemed determined to tough it out, while at the same time being resigned to the chop. In the end a 1-8 win-loss record and an explosive radio interview in which Malthouse bagged the board sealed his fate.

Chris Judd's long football journey took him from Caulfield to Perth to Carlton, but it all ended prematurely against Adelaide at the MCG in front of a sparse crowd. Seemingly knowing his knee injury meant the end of his career, the Brownlow and Norm Smith medallist rode on a mobile stretcher and acknowledged the crowd as they applauded him off the ground. By year's end Judd was launching his biography and indicating that he saw his post-football life in the business world, and not the hurley burley of AFL media stardom. As befits his stunning career, he remained smart, dignified and a man apart.

The news that first-year Adelaide coach Phil Walsh had been killed after a domestic dispute reverberated around the football world and led the AFL to cancel the round-14 match between the Crows and Geelong. After an emotional funeral, interim coach Scott Camporeale led the Adelaide players into their return match against West Coast, losing the game but winning admiration for their effort. The club would go on to make the finals, producing a brand of football that many attributed to the efforts of its late mentor.

Australia's bid to win the Ashes appeared to be over before it really even began. By the end, the Test career of skipper Michael Clarke was also finished. Despite levelling the series 1-1 in the second Test at Lords, Australia were demolished in the third and fourth Tests. At the conclusion of the Trent Bridge match, with England retaining the Ashes, Clarke called time on his career. The series ended 3-2, with Australia winning the fifth Test at The Oval.

In the final round of the AFL season Geelong missed the AFL finals for the first time since 2006, having won flags in 2007, 2009 and 2011. It was the cue for the departure of three premiership heroes – James Kelly, Mathew Stokes and Steve Johnson, who were farewelled in a final-round clash at home against Adelaide. Their departures laid the groundwork for the Cats to go on a recruiting spree at season's end, snaring Patrick Dangerfield and igniting hopes of a quick return to the finals.

Hawthorn, Hawthorn, Hawthorn. With three flags in a row, it was just as well the Hawks served up a fairytale in their demolition of West Coast. Cyril Rioli joined his uncles Maurice Rioli and Michael Long in winning the Norm Smith Medal as best afield, proving once again that the most watchable football is often also winning football. Rioli set the game alight early, setting the Hawks on their way to yet another triumph for the best of the modern coaches, Alastair Clarkson.

Adam Scott didn't find much to enjoy at the Australian Masters in November. Photo: The Age

Golfer Adam Scott had thrown away the long putter in preparation for the game's new laws, and promptly endured one of the worst seasons in his career. It didn't get much better at the Australian Masters at Huntingdale, when his strong showing in the first two rounds was nullified by a six-over 77 on the Saturday. In the end it was veteran Peter Senior who turned back the clock to win the gold jacket.

The demise of the West Indies as a world cricket power was confirmed over three dreadful days in Hobart. Australia amassed a stunning 4-583, with Adam Voges knocking up 269 in the first innings. The Windies could manage only 223 in reply, with Australia unable to resist the follow-on and wrapping up the visitors for 148. With the Boxing Day Test one of Cricket Australia's big money-spinners of the year, we wondered if the fans, too, would be gone with the Windies.